How do I go about getting bigger?

dave_in_ni

After some advice here folks. I'm at the stage now where I can start to see my abs, I am in pretty good shape for 2 years lifting and considering I was 230lbs down to 170lbs at 6ft tall. However, although I am in fairly good shape I am small. Take my arms for example, I wear a small fitbit bit, I am on the 3rd hole, my 13 year old son who isn't overweight has bigger wrists than me. The term I would use is a small fine frame, kind of like a featherweight boxer, not the look I was after at all when I started lifting.

I happened to go to the swimming pool yesterday, the pool also has a gym and as I was hanging about I met guys coming and going to the gym, now I work out alone at home so have no one to compare myself so I thought I was looking OK with but some of these guys had arms twice the size of mine, and its not to say they where ripped, they had no defined muscle but you knew they lifted, they just looked bigger built all over. That's the look I am after, myself I just look small and watery even though you may be able to see my abs and veins now. Even at my heaviest weight I still looked small yet I bet I weighed more then than these guys I saw yesterday.

Do genetics play a part here or how do I get bigger? I am probably an Ectomorph but unlike and Ectomorph I get fat easily but it all goes straight to the belly and moobs

Unknown

This content has been removed.

trigden1991

You need to build muscle.

- progressive overload programme
- Calorie surplus
- Consistency
- Patience

Lean59man

Full-body 3 times week. M-W-F etc. 4 days rest per week.

Thighs
Calves
Chest
Back
Shoulders
Biceps
Triceps

Deadlift once per week - 1 set of 12 reps

1-2 exercises per bodypart for 3 sets of 8-12 reps.
When you get 12 reps on all three sets, add weight.

Every 4-6 weeks change up some of your exercises.

Eat 250-500 extra calories over maintenance each day to gain up to 1 lb. a week.

That's it.

trigden1991

Lean59man wrote: »

Full-body 3 times week. M-W-F etc. 4 days rest per week.

Thighs
Calves
Chest
Back
Shoulders
Biceps
Triceps

Deadlift once per week - 1 set of 12 reps

1-2 exercises per bodypart for 3 sets of 8-12 reps.
When you get 12 reps on all three sets, add weight.

Every 4-6 weeks change up some of your exercises.

Eat 250-500 extra calories over maintenance each day to gain up to 1 lb. a week.

That's it.

Not this. What ridiculously specific nonsense.

Lean59man

trigden1991 wrote: »

Lean59man wrote: »

Full-body 3 times week. M-W-F etc. 4 days rest per week.

Thighs
Calves
Chest
Back
Shoulders
Biceps
Triceps

Deadlift once per week - 1 set of 12 reps

1-2 exercises per bodypart for 3 sets of 8-12 reps.
When you get 12 reps on all three sets, add weight.

Every 4-6 weeks change up some of your exercises.

Eat 250-500 extra calories over maintenance each day to gain up to 1 lb. a week.

That's it.

Not this. What ridiculously specific nonsense.

Try it, you might like it.

planemanx15

Download Stronglifts 5x5 and start doing that program. Worked for me!

dill_milk

trigden1991 wrote: »

Lean59man wrote: »

Full-body 3 times week. M-W-F etc. 4 days rest per week.

Thighs
Calves
Chest
Back
Shoulders
Biceps
Triceps

Deadlift once per week - 1 set of 12 reps

1-2 exercises per bodypart for 3 sets of 8-12 reps.
When you get 12 reps on all three sets, add weight.

Every 4-6 weeks change up some of your exercises.

Eat 250-500 extra calories over maintenance each day to gain up to 1 lb. a week.

That's it.

Not this. What ridiculously specific nonsense.

What's wrong with his advice? Seems sound to me. Of course there are other options, but this is fine. Won't help with the skinny wrists though. Nothing you can do about that. Lol

Davidsdottir

trigden1991 wrote: »

Lean59man wrote: »

Full-body 3 times week. M-W-F etc. 4 days rest per week.

Thighs
Calves
Chest
Back
Shoulders
Biceps
Triceps

Deadlift once per week - 1 set of 12 reps

1-2 exercises per bodypart for 3 sets of 8-12 reps.
When you get 12 reps on all three sets, add weight.

Every 4-6 weeks change up some of your exercises.

Eat 250-500 extra calories over maintenance each day to gain up to 1 lb. a week.

That's it.

Not this. What ridiculously specific nonsense.

Agreed! I do deads 3x a week... American, Romanian, and Sumo. 1x12? WTF?

deputy_randolph

I suspect that since you've lost 60lbs that you are still undereating. Been there; done that.

I've been lifting for 4+ years...I didn't put on any real size until I started eating to build muscle. Muscle isn't built from nothing; you have to give your body the calories/protein to grow.

Honestly evaluate how much you are eating and see if you need to increase calorie intake.

psuLemon

dill_milk wrote: »

trigden1991 wrote: »

Lean59man wrote: »

Full-body 3 times week. M-W-F etc. 4 days rest per week.

Thighs
Calves
Chest
Back
Shoulders
Biceps
Triceps

Deadlift once per week - 1 set of 12 reps

1-2 exercises per bodypart for 3 sets of 8-12 reps.
When you get 12 reps on all three sets, add weight.

Every 4-6 weeks change up some of your exercises.

Eat 250-500 extra calories over maintenance each day to gain up to 1 lb. a week.

That's it.

Not this. What ridiculously specific nonsense.

What's wrong with his advice? Seems sound to me. Of course there are other options, but this is fine. Won't help with the skinny wrists though. Nothing you can do about that. Lol

Because deadlifts work more muscle fibers than almost any other lift and should be one of the foundational moves in a workout plan. Additionally, only doing things in one rep range will leave stuff on the table. In fact, Layne Norton talks about it in regards to training frequency and heavy iron in the below article. You dont' get big from lifting light weights. If you want to get big, you want to work a variety of rep ranges to maximize recruitment of muscle fibers.

http://www.simplyshredded.com/mega-feature-layne-norton-training-series-full-powerhypertrophy-routine-updated-2011.html

thapainmaker

dave_in_ni wrote: »

After some advice here folks. I'm at the stage now where I can start to see my abs, I am in pretty good shape for 2 years lifting and considering I was 230lbs down to 170lbs at 6ft tall. However, although I am in fairly good shape I am small. Take my arms for example, I wear a small fitbit bit, I am on the 3rd hole, my 13 year old son who isn't overweight has bigger wrists than me. The term I would use is a small fine frame, kind of like a featherweight boxer, not the look I was after at all when I started lifting.

I happened to go to the swimming pool yesterday, the pool also has a gym and as I was hanging about I met guys coming and going to the gym, now I work out alone at home so have no one to compare myself so I thought I was looking OK with but some of these guys had arms twice the size of mine, and its not to say they where ripped, they had no defined muscle but you knew they lifted, they just looked bigger built all over. That's the look I am after, myself I just look small and watery even though you may be able to see my abs and veins now. Even at my heaviest weight I still looked small yet I bet I weighed more then than these guys I saw yesterday.

Do genetics play a part here or how do I get bigger? I am probably an Ectomorph but unlike and Ectomorph I get fat easily but it all goes straight to the belly and moobs

Don’t know much about body types but I know I’ve got smaller bones as well. It took me some time to pack on enough muscle to actually start looking “muscley” like 4 years of eating lots of clean food and lifting as heavy as possible.

I was always focusing on my chest, I always wanted those Arnold pecs. Honestly after a while my pecs became my most prominent looking muscle, not to sound vein but I love the way it makes me look in a beater. So I guess it comes down to motivation and commitment. It really isn’t easy though especially for guys like us that were born with a small frame. Best of luck bro just keep at it and keep those reps in the 3-6 range, once you hit six bump the weight up to something you can only do 1-3 times once u hit 6 do the same thing again..... that’s what I do anyway

Chieflrg

Lean59man wrote: »

Full-body 3 times week. M-W-F etc. 4 days rest per week.

Thighs
Calves
Chest
Back
Shoulders
Biceps
Triceps

Deadlift once per week - 1 set of 12 reps

1-2 exercises per bodypart for 3 sets of 8-12 reps.
When you get 12 reps on all three sets, add weight.

Every 4-6 weeks change up some of your exercises.

Eat 250-500 extra calories over maintenance each day to gain up to 1 lb. a week.

That's it.

Lean59man wrote: »

Full-body 3 times week. M-W-F etc. 4 days rest per week.

Thighs
Calves
Chest
Back
Shoulders
Biceps
Triceps

Deadlift once per week - 1 set of 12 reps

1-2 exercises per bodypart for 3 sets of 8-12 reps.
When you get 12 reps on all three sets, add weight.

Every 4-6 weeks change up some of your exercises.

Eat 250-500 extra calories over maintenance each day to gain up to 1 lb. a week.

That's it.

No.

trigden1991 wrote: »

You need to build muscle.

- progressive overload programme
- Calorie surplus
- Consistency
- Patience

Yes.